


of living colors (and human lie detectors)

by Orchibi



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-13
Updated: 2013-07-13
Packaged: 2017-12-19 08:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orchibi/pseuds/Orchibi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Sunggyu can suddenly see auras and discovers colors has meanings</p>
            </blockquote>





	of living colors (and human lie detectors)

**Author's Note:**

> written for a secret santa exchange in 2011, originally posted on lj

Sunggyu groans and buries his face deeper in his pillow as Sungjong barges into the room, complaining about how he is the leader so he can't be the last one to wake up.

He opens his eyes in order to glare at the youngest but instead he is blinded by a glaring yellow light which only prompts him to close his eyes and groan again. "I'm awake, just turn off the light," he mumbles into the pillow.

"The light isn't even on," Sungjong mumbles back, eying the older warily for a few more seconds before sighing out loud and walking out of the room. "Just get up, hyung. We have a practice to get to," he says and closes the door behind himself.

Sunggyu opens his eyes slowly and looks at Woohyun who is still sleeping next to him. He pokes the other vocalist before getting up and stretching. "How come Sungjong-ah didn't complain about you sleeping…" he says more to himself than to Woohyun and starts his search for a towel.

He can hear Sungjong complaining about their _irresponsible leader_ even with the door closed and so he opens it in order to scold the youngest for his disrespectful language, but he isn't ready for all the colors he sees the moment he walks out of the room.

He vaguely wonders whether they are being kidnapped by aliens before he loses all thought and his consciousness.

∞

The first thing Sunggyu sees when he wakes up is Woohyun's worried face. He sits up immediately, knocking his forehead into Woohyun's jaw in the process, but ignores it. "What happened?" is the first sentence to come out of his mouth, followed by "where are the other members?!" when memories of colorful lights and aliens came back to him.

Woohyun rubs his jaw and looks at Sunggyu with insulted expression before mumbling short answers. "You fainted. They're in practice." He opens and closes his mouth few more times, as if to check if it still works right, before adding "it really hurt."

"I'm sorry," Sunggyu says, now rubbing his forehead, and looks around. They're in the living room and everything seems just fine, with no suspicious lights around. "Where did the lights go?" he asks and explains himself when Woohyun looks at him funny. "Before I fainted, there were lots of colorful lights here. Didn't you see them?"

Woohyun just shrugs. "I was sleeping. They woke me up and told me to take care of you. Maybe you were hallucinating." He stands up and offers Sunggyu his hand. "You're feeling fine now, right? We should go to the practice."

∞

The walk to the practice room is quiet and nice, Sunggyu decides. He didn't shower, too afraid of fainting midway the shower and not wanting Woohyun to nag him every other minute to check if he's still alive, so he considers himself lucky when they don't see anyone until they get there. Hyoan isn't sitting outside like he usually does, but Sunggyu doesn't question it and simply goes inside and down the stairs.

He can hear the music playing and can't help but smile at the thought of them soon performing again on stage. He stops two steps before the staircase ends when he sees the same colorful lights he saw in the apartment, only dimmer this time. Woohyun stumbles into him from behind, not realizing the older has stopped, and pushes him forward. "Come on Sunggyu ah, before Hyoan hyung notices us."

Sunggyu blinks once, twice, thrice, and then he's nodding and walking again, entering the practice room. He stares at the members for a few moments, feeling overwhelmed by the colors that come out of each of them. He tries to decide what colors come from whom, yellow from Sungjong and purple from Dongwoo, or did the purple come from Howon?

He is still staring when Woohyun starts clapping and yelling, pretending to be a fan, and they all laugh and the colors become brighter and then they notice him and crowd around him and before he knows what happens his sight is blacking again and he's out.

∞

When Sunggyu wakes up this time he sees the ceiling, and part of him wonders if he was dreaming a very vivid dream, but then he looks out of the window and sees the colors of sunset coloring the sky. He sits up and this time doesn't knock his face into anything but the sudden movement makes his insides twist and he feels like all the blood he had in his upper body just drained and he falls back down.

He's calling out to Woohyun before he can even realize it, but none of it matters when Woohyun sits next to him and presses cold fingers and palms to his face and then everything feels just fine. They are silent for a few moments before Woohyun removes his hands and offers a weak smile instead. "What happened?"

"I don't feel well," is Sunggyu's mumbled answer and Woohyun laughs and then Sunggyu laughs as well because he thinks it's contagious even if he heard it so many times before. He tries to sit up again when the laughter dies, this time more slowly, and this time he doesn't feel like he's dying.

"Did you see the lights this time?" He asks as soon as he's sure he's not going to fall again, but just like last time Woohyun is shrugging.

"I really think you're hallucinating, hyung." He brings his hand up and straightens Sunggyu's hair. "Maybe you've caught a cold."

Sunggyu nods meekly, sighing. "If I did you should stay away. We can't have two sick members." He catches Woohyun's wrist and pushes it away from his body. "The others are still at practice?"

"Yeah. They freaked out a little when you fainted again but Hyoan hyung just came and helped me bring you back here and I offered to stay with you in case something, well, like _this_ , happens." Woohyun explains, not looking at Sunggyu but rather at his hands. "You should rest, Sunggyu-ah. I'll be in the living room." He adds and walks out, still not looking at him. Sunggyu says nothing and just lays down again, falling asleep the minute he closes his eyes.

∞

He wakes up the next morning, and when he's looking towards Woohyun's bed he can't see the other. He looks out of the window, seeing the sun is still only peeking from behind the buildings, and he figures no one should be up now.

He walks into the living room and sees Woohyun sprawled on the floor. He frowns but doesn't wake him up, going instead into the trio's bedroom. He stands before the closed door and takes a few deep breaths before opening it. Just like he thought, every one of them radiated another color, but unlike the first time the colors were dimmed and changed rapidly.

Sungjong's color is, as he suspected, yellow. It changes from greenish yellow to a neon color Sunggyu has to squint to look at and even a weird kind of orange that he's never seen before. He smiles to himself thinking how fitting it is. Yellow like the lemon candies Sungjong loves so much. He makes a note to himself to tell the management they should make him dye his hair to blond again, but this time more yellowish.

He wills himself too look away from Sungjong and at Sungyeol. It takes him a few moments to decide what his color is, since it is changing even faster than Sungjong's, but in the end he decides on pink. The pink varies from hot pink to baby pink and other pinks Sunggyu doesn't know the names of, and at some point the pink was so yellowish that Sunggyu wonders if he decided the right color.

When he finally tears his eyes off of Sungyeol he thinks he can't be more fascinated than he was, but than he looks at Howon and can't believe he ever thought that. He catches Howon's teal at first glance, but than Howon's music player starts playing a new song and the teal becomes almost a distinct memory as various shades of red appears before his eyes. He's mesmerized by the way the color changes with every new song, but can't help but wonder what Howon's real color is. He walks towards him as silently as possible and turns off his music player, sitting on their manager's empty bed. He waits a few moments before another color settles and stays unchanged. It starts as a dark purple and slowly changes into a brighter one, slipping into lavender once in a while but always going back to purple. Sunggyu smiles to himself before turning on Howon's music player again and walking out of the room.

He closes the door slowly, trying not to make a sound, but when he's turning around he's almost yelling in surprise because he forgot Woohyun's there. Fortunately, he catches himself before making any sound. He tiptoes around Woohyun and into Dongwoo's and Myungsoo's shared room, hurrying inside.

At first Sunggyu thought that their colors will change faster than Sungyeol's because they're the heaviest sleepers of the group- but their colors are so solid that Sunggyu's surprised and maybe a little bit disappointed.

Dongwoo's a green. Sunggyu was never good with colors so he can't name the green, but he decided the green reminds him of jungle, which seems very fitting for the Kenyan. And maybe some kind of a scale, like those that dinosaurs have in the movies Dongwoo is so fond of.

But while he finds Dongwoo's green fitting, he's taken aback by Myungsoo's brown. It's kind of a chocolate brown and Sunggyu becomes hungry the more he stares at it, and just then he remembers he hadn't eaten anything all day. He pushes those thoughts away and keeps staring at the brown, trying to decide why is seems so fitting to Myungsoo the more he looks at it. He ends up not finding a good reason, except for the fact that the color is as beautiful as Myungsoo himself.

He looks between their colors when an idea hits him, and then he's sitting next to Dongwoo and talking to him silently, even though he's sure he wouldn't wake up even if he talks louder. "Hey, Dongwoo," he starts awkwardly. "You're the best rapper in the world and-" he's not even finished with the sentence and Dongwoo's color is already getting brighter, and the more Sunggyu talks the more blinding it becomes.

∞

He's leaving the duo's rooms with a huge smile on his face, but not before complimenting Myungsoo and watching his brown become almost a white-chocolate color. He doesn't close their door as slowly as he did after exiting the trio's room, and when he turns around he comes face to face with Woohyun.

"Good morning," he mumbles and scratches the back of his neck, and Woohyun is raising an eyebrow at him and gesturing towards the room. "I wanted to check on them-" he explains, but actually lies, fast, "I worried all of them yesterday… Why weren't you sleeping in the room?" he changes the subject.

"Thought you were sick. Feeling any better?" Woohyun doesn't push the matter and Sunggyu only nods. "You should take a shower then, you stink." He says and then he's shoving Sunggyu in the direction of the bathroom, saying he'd bring him a towel afterwards. Sunggyu doesn't complain, but he can't help but wonder to himself why Woohyun doesn't have a color.

Woohyun closes the door behind him but Sunggyu doesn't bother to lock it, instead leaning against it. He's trying to figure out what those colors were, or why he could see them suddenly. He settles on searching that on Naver or Daum or, well, any other site- but not now. Now he needs to shower. And then he needs to eat. He nods to himself and pushes from the door, only to stop with one of his legs in the air. He looks at the mirror, not at his reflection(he's not close enough to reflect in it), but at the object itself- and wonders if he can see his color there.

He looks at his hands, seeing nothing, but maybe he'd be able to see it in the mirror? He lets his leg drop in a half-step and then takes another, still not seeing himself in the mirror but he's closer to it now, and if he'll just stretch out his arm he'd be able to see it in it- so he does, and sees nothing. He feels relieved(and maybe a little bit of disappointed) and takes a few more steps, watching the mirror from the corner of his eye, and gasping when he sees himself there.

He looks horrible, his face is pale and his eyes have dark circles around them even though he just slept all day, his bones seem sharper than usual, his arms too skinny, his hair a mess, and he makes a promise to himself to never faint again- but then he notices white around him that can't be the bathroom's walls cause they're never white and this is an unmistakable white or at least something that looks as clean and bright as white. He reaches out to trace it in the mirror, amazed by how it follows him around. He drags his fingers along the surface, over his eyes which seems to light up by the white and before he can do anything more his daze is broken by Woohyun's laughter.

"I know you look bad, hyung, but you should get in the shower," he smiles and throws a towel at him. Sunggyu doesn't catch it but rather it catches him, slipping off of his shoulder a second after it landed on him. Sunggyu offers a smile back and nods, but he can see how his white turns a bit blue.

Woohyun comes closer to him and looks at the mirror as well, and Sunggyu's white-blue turns into a white-green when Woohyun smiles at himself in the mirror and fixes his hair. He turns to him when he's done, "what?" he asks but doesn't wait for an answer, "don't tell me you're feeling sick again."

Sunggyu can't tell if Woohyun's really worried or just wants him to shower already, so he shakes his head and turns around, leaving the towel on the floor. "Get out," he mumbles and takes off his shirt. All he hears in return is the sound of the door opening and closing again.

∞

He spends his shower time more lost in thoughts than actually washing up, but he knows it's alright because he will shower again after practice. What he doesn't know is what those colors are, and more importantly- why he can't see Woohyun's color if he can see his own.

He gets out and is surprised to see the towel hung in its place, but takes it without questioning it. He towels off his hair before warping it around his waist, and then he's watching his reflection again. His white seems brighter this time, cleaner, and he chuckles at the thought.

He hears yells coming from outside of the bathroom and realizes everyone must be up now, so he walks out and almost knocks into Sungyeol who stumps his way into his bedroom, his pink seeming hot and dark and Sunggyu never thought a pink could be _that_ scary.

He looks at the other members for an explanation, and this time doesn't pass out seeing all of the colors at once. Myungsoo's and Dongwoo's colors are still kind of bright and seem to lit up the kitchen where they both are, Sungjong's a dull yellow that reminds him of a sick sunflowers, and Sunggyu averts his eyes quickly from it. The darkness in Howon's purple reminds him of darkness in Sungyeol's pink, but it looks bluish and sad, too.

"What happened?" he finally asks out loud and he's directing it at Howon. Howon looks back at him, a bit surprised, only now noticing him, and his color waver for a second before returning to its dark shade.

"We got the song list for our new album," Woohyun answers instead and this time Sunggyu's surprised because he didn't notice him there, hidden between the strong colors, "they chose the songs where he barely sings." And Sunggyu doesn't need to ask who _he_ is because he can still see the dark pink coming from the crack under the door, threatening to become even darker and maybe even turn black any time now.

He frowns and pushes aside the thought of his own color in order to act like the leader he is. "I should go talk to him," he says but before he can even move he is reminded by Woohyun that he needs to put on some clothes first.

∞

By the time Sunggyu is out of his room, fully clothed, Sungyeol is out of his own room as well and he is smiling and his pink seems less dark(but still hot) and Myungsoo is next to him with his own warm chocolate brown color mixing into the pink, and Sunggyu is once again reminded that he haven't eaten something since the day before.

Before he even opens his mouth Dongwoo's there and he is shoving a bowl full of noodles into his hands. Sunggyu smiles, mumbling a weak _thanks_ , and Dongwoo smiles back, all of his teeth showing and his green glowing. He walks towards Howon's whose purple is bright once again and plops next to him, leaning on the wall behind him and starts eating.

∞

Sunggyu thinks that watching themselves practice in the huge mirror wall is even more mesmerizing when one can see their colors change so rapidly. He also thinks it's harder this way, which is the reason he isn't being as hard on himself as he would have been any other day. The others' colors vary between sick-yellowish shades and grayish purple, and Sunggyu doesn't like those colors at all.

"I'm sorry," he says between pants when he falls to the floor again, and Myungsoo helps him to get back on his feet. "I think I'm still sick," he half lies. He doesn’t think he's sick, but he can't be sure he isn't imagining those colors. Woohyun is next to him in matter of seconds, pushing back his sweat soaked hair from his forehead and placing his palm there, even with all the sweat, and Sunggyu can see his white becoming pinkish and really hopes it doesn't mean he's blushing.

"I can't tell if you're warm from sickness or from the practice," Woohyun laughs as he takes him hand down, wiping it on his pants. "Maybe we should take a break?" he offers instead and everyone agrees.

∞

Sunggyu gets back to himself after the break and doesn't mess up at all for the rest of the practice, except for when one of the colors change at once and than he's surprised and loses his concentration.

Hyoan comes in sometime when they are dancing to Nothing's Over, and Sunggyu almost knocks into Sungjong when he sees the strong blue radiating from him. Hyoan is laughing at Sungjong, and his blue becomes lighter, but Sunggyu can see Sungjong's yellow becoming redder from the corner of his eye.

Sunggyu apologizes immediately and even when Sungjong says it's alright his yellow is still reddish and has another shade he can't quite name(but he thinks it's the ugliest color he's even seen) and Sunggyu's pretty sure this isn't a good thing.

∞

Everyone falls tiredly on the floor when they get back to the dorms, Sungyeol running to the shower so he could get the sweat off of him. No one argues, too tired to do so(or shower), and Sunggyu goes into his room in search for his laptop.

It takes him a few minutes and he has to touch some nasty smelling clothes(he throws them all on Woohyun's bed), but he finally finds it and turns it on, hoping with all of his heart it will have enough battery.

He's almost surprised when he finds it has a full one, but then again he didn't have much time to use it lately. In no time he has a few tabs open; all talking about colors and people but none describes what he sees. He tries searching new key words, and finally, after more than a few futile tries, he finds something.

It looks like a scientific article, but the more he reads it the less it seems like one. It goes on how people call it Synesthesia, that they claim that it's only a mixture of senses, but the article's writer thinks it's something more. Some kind of superpower(and here Sunggyu huffs and thinks he'd rather teleport) which allows you too see the auras of people and how they really feel. Sunggyu re-reads the article a few times before searching auras, and this time he gets more results.

He's reading and reading and before he knows it the computer tells him the battery is about to run out and Woohyun is standing in front of him with an amused smile on his face. "What got you so immersed?" he asks and Sunggyu can even hear the amusement in his voice(and he can't help but wonder if his aura is yellowish or maybe greenish and why can't he see it anyway).

Sunggyu shrugs and closes the laptop, stretching a bit before standing up. "You're going to shower?" he asks when he can't stand Woohyun's stare anymore. It makes him antsy.

Now it's Woohyun's turn to shrug and he's still smiling that amused smile when he does so. "I'll take one after you do," he sits down on Sunggyu's bed, saying nothing about that mountain of dirty clothes that has piled on his own bed.

He nods and searches for the towel he used this morning, but ends up finding another one that doesn't smell bad or look used. He takes it and ignores Woohyun calls of _I was going to use this one!_

This time when he enters the bathroom he doesn't hesitate before standing in front of the mirror. His white is kind of misty, and he wonders if it's because of the mirror. He makes a note to himself to learn more names of colors so he could name every emotion's color just right.

∞

It takes him less time than he thought to get used to it. Sure, sometimes he gets surprised by the colors and how fast they can change, and he's afraid to perform in front of a live audience, and he can't even watch television because he can see people's colors there, too, and it just makes everything boring(unless he's trying to watch the colors), but he's used to it.

He, more often than not, wonders why he's the one with the weird _superpower_. If anyone in Infinite should get them it's either Dongwoo or Sungyeol, not him. He gives up finding an answer two weeks after he started seeing auras.

It's around that time that Sunggyu figures lies have a color of their own. He first notices it when Sungyeol lies to him about hiding the presents they got from their fans, it's an ugly color Sunggyu can't name and hopes to never see again. He catches a darker shade of it when Myungsoo tells him he doesn't feel lonely when he's in Japan filming for his drama, but the color is almost taking over Dongwoo's green when he tells Sunggyu he doesn't mind he can't get a few hours off to visit his family after a long time. Sunggyu thinks the color is uglier the more he sees it.

∞

Sunggyu spends all of his spare time on searching for new color combinations and shades on the computer. He's searching in the yellows section for a color he saw in Sungjong's aura the day before when Woohyun tries to close his laptop on his fingers. He doesn't bother to hide his frown as he withdraws his hands. "What was that for?"

"Come watch a movie with us." Woohyun says and gestures to the living room. Sunggyu shrugs but doesn't get to even open his mouth. "You've been neglecting us for weeks, hyung. For the computer." He says firmly.

"I have not." Sunggyu says but he knows Woohyun is right. "I just don't feel like watching a movie, okay?" he mumbles and reaches for the laptop again, only for it to be stolen away by Woohyun.

"Then go to sleep." He scolds.

Sunggyu gapes at him. "I'm your hyung."

"Then go to sleep, hyung." Woohyun smiles this time but it doesn't matter to the shocked Sunggyu who gets up at once and walks out, ignoring the members' blinding colors as they fight over the movie choice, and goes into the bathroom.

∞

When he enters their room later, his teeth brushed and face cleaned, he's surprised to see Woohyun already lying in his bed. "Why aren't you watching a movie with them?" he asks as he goes to his medicine drawer. He pulls out a few bottles, taking a pill from each and swallowing them one by one.

"I don't feel like watching a movie," Woohyun says in the same voice he uses whenever he tries to mimic Sunggyu, but Sunggyu swears it doesn't sound like him. He frowns and sits on his bed, watching Woohyun silently before the younger turns around to watch him back. "Why are you so obsessed with the computer lately, hyung?" Woohyun asks silently and Sunggyu thinks he's genuinely worried. "You don't check our fan caf?s. You're not even on twitter. What are you doing there?"

"I'm just…" Sunggyu starts but doesn't know how to finish.

"Is it porn?" Woohyun sits up and watches Sunggyu stubbornly, while Sunggyu just stares at him stunned. "I can check your browser history, hyung. Tell me already."

Sunggyu wants to say Woohyun won't dare, but he knows he will. "Colors." He mumbles and it earns him a raised eyebrow from Woohyun. "I'm searching for colors." He looks down and rolls on his bed, trying to hide himself from Woohyun.

Woohyun is silent for a few moments before chuckling silently. "That's it?" he says and Sunggyu turns around just in time to see him shake his head. "What's with you and colors all of a sudden?" and now it's Sunggyu turn to look surprised. "You're talking about colors even in your sleep, you know?"

Sunggyu frowns. "I don't."

"You do." Woohyun answers immediately and falls on his bed again, closing his eyes. "Go to sleep, hyung. You seem to have colors in your dreams anyway."

∞

The next time Sunggyu talks to Woohyun about colors is when they get a break from vocal practice, in which they aren't supposed to even talk( _you guys must let your vocal cords rest_ is what they were told), but Sunggyu can't keep it in anymore.

"What color do you think matches Dongwoo the best?" Sunggyu asks in one breath, not looking at Woohyun.

He's not really surprised when Woohyun chuckles. "Those colors again?" he mumbles, keeping his voice low. "The management wants to attach us colors or something?" Sunggyu shakes his head and Woohyun lets out a thoughtful sound. "Green maybe." He says after a few moments and Sunggyu jerks up.

"Why green?" he hopes the surprise isn't all that clear in his voice.

"Because Dongwoo is always so happy with what he's got, you know?" he starts musing and Sunggyu nods in agreement, "and people associate green with envy, but I can't see Dongwoo ever being really envious, about anything. He's more of a person everyone else should be jealous of. He's really selfless." He ends with a smile on his face and Sunggyu can feel one growing on his as well.

"That…" Sunggyu stops to think how to finish the sentence, "sounds like you've been thinking about it for a long time, Woohyun." His smile grows when Woohyun turns the slightest shade of pink.

"Shut it, hyu—" Woohyun is cut mid sentence when Jungryoul enters the room, glaring at the two, his gray color catching a blinding shade as well.

"You're supposed to rest, not fight." He sighs and sits between them, and Sunggyu has to squint until his color turns calm again.

∞

"What about Sungyeol?" Sunggyu asks Woohyun when they are on their way back to the dorm from vocal practice. Jungryoul drives silently and Sunggyu has to keep his voice lower than the music so he won't hear them.

"What about Sungyeol?" Woohyun asks back, confused, his voice as low as Sunggyu's.

"Did you think of a color for him, too?" He leans closer to the younger, who becomes flustered almost promptly.

"I." Woohyun starts and stops immediately after. "Yes." He admits and averts his eyes from the now grinning Sunggyu.

"Tell me," he mumbles quietly, and surprisingly— Woohyun does.

"Pink," he starts and waits, as if expecting Sunggyu to say something, but continues when the other stays silent. "It's a childish color and, well, he's a _choding_. And it's kind of calming," Sunggyu makes a noise in the back of his throat, "I know he's almost never calm but that's the idea, this is why when he _is_ calm it leaves such a strong impression."

"You should have stopped with childish." Sunggyu says and it earns him a smack from Woohyun.

"I shouldn't have talked at all." He huffs and leans away from Sunggyu, only for the other vocalist to scoot even closer with a sorry smile.

"Don't you dare making out in there," Jungryoul announces from the front sit and the duo stutter surprised reactions, making Jungryoul laugh, his gray becoming almost white and Sunggyu thinks maybe he's too proud of himself coming up with such a lame joke.

He moves to the other side of the seat, away from Woohyun, and closes his eyes in hope to avoid the awkward situation.

∞

The next time Sunggyu opens his eyes they've already reached the dorms and Woohyun is halfway there. He gets out of the car quickly and jogs to join the other.

He's not all too surprised to see everyone sprawled on the floor, laughing and yelling, and their colors shining. Woohyun doesn't waste time in joining them; sitting next to Myungsoo, his brown chocolate color almost engulfing him, but Sungjong is the first to notice him and his bright yellow mixes with the brown, and it seems like Woohyun is glowing and Sunggyu is mesmerized.

His daze is broken when Dongwoo calls out to him and he plops next to him, listens to them talking about their day and watching as their colors change, slowly closing his eyes and drifting away.

∞

He's woken up by a worried Sungjong whose yellow isn't as bright as usual. "You shouldn't sleep here, hyung." He offers a smile and Sunggyu tries to mirror it when he mumbles a quiet _thanks_ before going to his room.

Woohyun follows him instantly. "Are you sick again?" he asks worriedly and Sunggyu turns around, surprised. "You look really tired, and our comeback is next week— you should rest. Go to sleep, okay?" he says quickly.

"Okay," Sunggyu responds with a smile, "but you need the rest, too."

∞

They're both lying in their beds, but they're not sleeping. The only thing that breaks the silence is the sounds of their breaths and the occasional turning on the mattresses, and Sunggyu can't take it anymore. "What about Sungjong's color?" He blurts out.

Woohyun is quiet and Sunggyu wonders whether he fell asleep without him noticing, but Woohyun proves him wrong. "You're still stuck on this?" he mumbles and turns around to face Sunggyu, who does the same.

"You have a color for everyone, don't you?" he teases and Woohyun glares at him, what doesn't look as frightening as it might have looked when his face is squished against his pillow. "So what is his color?" he asks again.

Woohyun sighs and drops the glare. "It's a yellow, isn't that obvious?" Sunggyu's facial expression must have answered that. "Come on, hyung. He's our _sun_ , he's pure and bright and always brings happiness to the dorm. It's obvious, hyung. Obvious." He says matter-of-factly, and Sunggyu can't even argue with that.

"You've really put thought into that, huh." Sunggyu turns onto his back and stares at the ceiling. "When did you have the time?"

"When you were too busy with the computer to even notice us." Woohyun shots back and punches the other's shoulder weakly in offense.

"I thought _I_ was the one with color obsession." Sunggyu points out and Woohyun turns to the other side.

"You still are," he mumbles, quickly adding "go to sleep, hyung." Sunggyu says nothing and this time the silence doesn't bother him as much.

∞

Sunggyu sits next to the mirrored wall, panting heavily, and watches the others as they do the same. "Pass me the water," he tells Sungyeol who rolls the bottle on the sweat-soaked floor, too tired to throw it. He wipes it on the cleanest part of his shirt after catching it and takes a few large gulps, side eying Sungyeol's sick looking pink.

Woohyun drops next to him and takes the bottle from him, drinking the rest and still panting when he finishes. They have been practicing their dance routine for six hours, trying to make it even more perfect, trying to become even more synchronized, and Sunggyu finds it a little amusing when even their pants are in sync.

Youngjun gets up from his place next to the amplifier, giving them an encouraging look. "Who wants to come with me and get you something to eat?" His orange makes Sunggyu hungry so he can't be any more thankful than he is when Youngjun offers that, but he can't bring himself to volunteer.

He doesn't really need to because Dongwoo shots up like he was never tired, his green becoming bright in a matter of seconds, and Sungyeol joins him when he starts talking about their meal options, mumbling something about how Dongwoo's making him too hungry to stay there, and his pink starts resembling a strawberry(and Sunggyu worries because strawberries aren't pink and maybe that means he's really hungrier than he thought).

Dongwoo drags Howon with them, pushing him up the stairs with a newfound strength, and Howon is too tired to argue, if his dark and somewhat lazy purple is any indication.

The four of them are left in the now quiet practice room, with Woohyun leaning against Sunggyu in one side of the room and the maknae line both leaning against the mirrored wall on the other side, their colors dimmed.

The room stays silent for a few moments before Sungjong starts talking to Myungsoo, the youngest's yellow getting brighter with each word, turning the other's chocolate brown into a white chocolate color even if he's just nodding and commenting when he absolutely needs to.

Sunggyu looks down at Woohyun who is now resting with his head in Sunggyu's lap, and it's only then that he realizes he's been stroking his hair this whole time. He threads his hand in Woohyun's newly dyed and sweat soaked hair, not feeling as disgusted as he would have felt a year ago, and hums to himself.

"Your tone is off," Woohyun informs him and he receives a hard pull on his hair in return. "Ouch, what was that for?" he whines and Sunggyu starts petting his head again.

"What's Myungsoo's color?" he asks quietly when Woohyun relaxes again.

"That's a hard one." Woohyun comments in a voice that is just above whisper, and Sunggyu raises his eyebrow. "I never really assigned him a color. I mean, I tired— but I couldn't find something fitting. He's cool and somewhat distant on the outside, but he is also sweet and warm when you get to know him. Giving him a color seems just wrong, he needs something different—"

"—chocolate." Sunggyu cuts Woohyun and the younger looks confused.

"Well, yeah." He mumbles after a few moments. "That seems kind of right."

Sunggyu turns his gaze to the other two who are now playing, probably something that Sungjong suggested, but judging from their colors, he can tell Myungsoo's enjoying it just as much as the youngest.

∞

"So the only one left is Hoya." Sunggyu says when they're changing clothes in the morning.

"Really Sunggyu?" Woohyun doesn't even bother with honorifics. "It's our comeback today, and that bothers you?"

"…yeah." Sunggyu answers, his eyebrows furrowed.

Woohyun sighs. "It's hard to pick one color when it comes to him," he starts and stops to take off his shirt, "different colors suites him in different situations, he's like two separate people when he's on stage and off of it," he stops again but this time to pull on a shirt, "but I think the one that suites him the best is purple."

"Why?" The look Woohyun gives him makes Sunggyu feel like a retard.

"Because it gives a cool feeling, like when Hoya's dancing, and a warm one, too, like when he's smiling and laughing with us. And it's his favorite color." He says like everyone should know it, but doesn't give Sunggyu much time to ponder. "Now hurry up and get dressed, we _will_ leave you behind."

∞

They have three minutes before they go on stage. It's only the pre-recording and Sunggyu is frightened because he almost faints just seeing the coordi-noonas' auras and other groups who are just as excited as them and he might not survive seeing the fans(he didn't even dare looking outside of the car windows on their way to Music Core), but he's the leader so he's got to regain his senses and act like one.

"I know you're all nervous," he starts and Sungyeol yells _I'm not!_ but that ugly color, the lies' color, is evident in his pink, "but we can do it, we're infinite! Even if we make a mistake, well… no one will notice because the camera men will be shooting Myungsoo anyway." He tries his best not to laugh out of anxiety and when he sees the members are smiling at him he feels like the world's weight has been taken off of his shoulders. "Just don't forget to enjoy yourselves."

∞

Being on stage is much more amazing when you can see auras, Sunggyu decides. He thought the audience will be a blur of colors, but the moment they got on stage all of the colors brightened and it just seemed like a white, glowing sea that didn't lose its color even for a second.

∞

When they finally make it home after finishing with Music Core and their comeback fan meeting, they all collapse on the floor. None of them think about tomorrow, and how it's going to be just as busy as today was, and their colors become more dimmed the more they sit there, even if the excitement hasn't passed just yet. Sunggyu thinks it looks as if someone is turning off their lights, and just the thought is enough to make him shiver.

He stands up at once, surprising them all. "Let's order dinner," he offers and they all smile and start cheering.

"You're paying, hyung!" Myungsoo proclaims and everyone starts cheering on him instead. His color changes to a milky color so Sunggyu doesn't argue.

"That means I get to eat more, right?"

∞

In the end, _ordering something_ turns out to be _sending Sunggyu and Woohyun to search for food_ , but they're not complaining.

They meet too many fans on their way, but they keep the same smiles on their faces and thank them for all of the congratulations, giving out autographs and receiving gifts.

When they reach the desired restaurant Sunggyu is already carrying two bags of gifts while Woohyun eats(and when he feels generous, feeds Sunggyu, too) some kind of cupcake one of the fans gave them.

They order food that will probably be too heavy to carry back and they are told to sit and wait for it to be ready. They sit in the back of the restaurant, not wanting to catch anyone's attention, and talk about mundane things before switching to their thoughts on today's performance, and that's when Sunggyu figures something.

"What about me?" He asks and Woohyun doesn't even try to look confused.

"I had a feeling you'd ask that." He smiles before stretching and looking away, busying himself with the bags the fans gave them. "You're a white." He doesn’t dare looking at Sunggyu when he talks. "You're a bit of everything, every color, combined together. And you can adapt so easily, and the changes in you are crystal clear— when you're happy or when you're sad, no matter how hard you try to hide it, I— _we_ can see that."

"Oh," is Sunggyu's intelligent reaction and Woohyun lets out a small laugh, and fortunately for him they are told their order is ready. He stands up fast and takes some of the food bags, leaving Sunggyu with the fan gifts and the rest of the food bags.

∞

It takes five weeks of promoting before they become too tired. Between performing four times every weekend and practicing their follow up song every day, they barely get any time to rest.

Sunggyu starts regretting ever being able to see auras when he can see how dimmed and tired everyone's colors seem, and how green they become whenever someone else wins on a music show, turning blue immediately after because _why aren't they winning when they put their hearts and souls into everything they do._

It breaks his heart to see that ugly color tainting their auras whenever they say they don't mind it that they haven't won yet, that they're happy with only performing and meeting their fans, that the colorful bruises that adorns their limbs from when they fell or tripped don't hurt at all.

∞

Sunggyu falls onto his bed, fully aware of the fact he needs to be up again in four hours. Woohyun is already sleeping on his bed next to him, having skipped dinner in order to sleep for thirty more minutes.

Sunggyu's about to fall asleep when Woohyun rolls onto his mattress, making him jerk into a half-lying-half-sitting position. "What's up?" he murmurs, placing one hand on Woohyun's shoulder.

"I'm cold," Woohyun whispers back and Sunggyu doesn't question it, lying back down and pulling the younger closer to him.

"Better?" Sunggyu asks and tries not to laugh when Woohyun nods and his hair tickles his neck.

"Hyung," Woohyun whispers before Sunggyu even gets to close his eyes, "what's my color?"

Sunggyu makes a surprised noise in the back of his throat, "you're the one with the good interpretations, not me. I don't know."

"But I can't pick myself a color." Sunggyu prefers to think he imagines the sad undertone in Woohyun's voice.

"Oh."

∞

They win for the first time on their sixth week of promoting _Be Mine_. They're all crying and they can't believe this is happening, and Sunggyu is blinded by the colors and can barely figure out what goes on until it's only the seven of them back in the dorms, still crying in disbelief and sheer happiness.

Sungjong is the first one to doze off in the living room, his yellow still shining and glowing like the sun, and Howon and Sungyeol drag him to their room. When none of them come back the remaining four figure they probably fell asleep, too, and decide to call it a night.

They exchange _good night_ s and _sleep well_ s before disappearing into their rooms.

Sunggyu lets out a relieved sigh, smiling, and when Woohyun looks at him with a curious expression on his face his smile only grows bigger. "We finally won."

"I knew we would," Woohyun says smugly and Sunggyu really wishes he could see his aura because he wants to know if Woohyun really knew that or if he's lying and what is his color anyway. "It's because I kept showing them my abs, you know. It's the secret behind it." Woohyun continues and Sunggyu lets out a weak laugh.

"I'm sure," he murmurs and Woohyun nods proudly. He walks up to the younger and hugs him tightly, burying his head in his neck. "We really won," he says again, and he still can't quite comprehend it.

Woohyun hugs Sunggyu back silently; turning his head slowly to kiss the other's cheek.

Sunggyu is surprised but doesn't move away. It's not that Woohyun has never kissed his cheek, but normally it is for fan service, and… well; there are no fans in their bedroom. It feels kind of strange, a good kind of strange— especially when Woohyun does that again.

He pulls away with a shy smile on his face and Woohyun averts his eyes from him fast. He looks confused and a little bit scared, and he opens his lips just slightly but before any sound can get out Sunggyu has already closed the gap between them, pushing his lips against Woohyun's.

Woohyun makes a surprised noise that barely makes its way out of his mouth with Sunggyu's own against it, but he regains his senses fast and buries one of his hands in Sunggyu's hair, the other grasping at the front of his shirt as he pulls him closer and deepens the kiss.

Sunggyu is grinning when they part a few moments later, and when he looks at Woohyun he sees the younger's eyes are hooded and his face colored crimson. He reaches out and strokes his face, catching his attention, and Woohyun leans into his touch.

"I think I know what your color is," he pulls Woohyun's face closer to him and leans their foreheads against each other. "It's red, because blushing suites you." He let's out a bark of laughter when Woohyun huffs and punches his arm, but then their lips meet in another kiss and nothing else matters.


End file.
